Strangers in a Strange Land
by Demosthenes23
Summary: Over a month after the events of my last story, William and Julia take a hot air balloon ride with unforeseen complications.
1. Disaster!

The air had a crisp autumn scent that was indescribably delightful to Murdoch. It consisted of a beguiling mixture of both the outdoors aroma and something far more biological in nature. For you see, he was arm in arm with the love of his life, one Julia Ogden. Since the horrific conclusion of their last case, she had become free from the bonds of matrimony. It was a good thing too, for her late husband had been the most devious serial killer Murdoch had ever heard of or had the misfortune to encounter. There was one blessing though, at least she couldn't remember her whole hypnotism ordeal. That's not to say that that event and the subsequent terrifying revelation hadn't left any marks on her psyche. In fact, there was virtually no way in which she could have remained completely unscathed. He only hoped that her psychological wounds would not be permanent ones. He prayed every day that they wouldn't.

Julia appeared normal enough though, when they were in public or at a social event of some sort, but when they were alone, when she let herself be vulnerable, he could see it in her eyes that everything was not all right. The last thing he wanted to do was bring up that deplorable topic, so he let the matter be. If she didn't want to talk about it, he wasn't going to force her to, even if he thought it would be beneficial for her. When she was ready, he was sure she would finally open up the flood gates of her mind and all those pent up emotions would come pouring out of her. Murdoch hoped he was prepared for just such an onslaught, but only time would tell.

Unbeknownst to him, Julia had started seeing a therapist. Someone Murdoch was well acquainted with. However, it would be a long time before she would admit to needing anyone's help in getting past everything that happened to her and moving on with her life. She was far too stubborn for that. After all, she was the one who willingly tied the knot to that psychopath. Therefore she felt it was her burden and her burden alone to carry.

Making their way along the park's well-kept path, they could see something tremendous in the distance. It was hard not to. The purple and white hot air balloon stood out like a sore thumb in the tranquil calm of their surroundings. A crowd had already gathered around to see the magnificent sight. Unfortunately for them, they wouldn't get to admire it for much longer. Murdoch and Julia weren't simply out on a run-of-the-mill stroll. No siree. They had a specific purpose in mind. That hot air balloon was theirs for the next couple of hours. They were going to celebrate their one month anniversary since getting back together. And what could be grander than an aerial tour of the city? While it was true that they had already done something similar several years ago, that didn't make this event any less special. If anything, it amplified it.

Besides being the most exhilarating two hours of their lives, their last air borne voyage had been a wonderful reunion after many months of being separated due to a painful breakup. They had hashed out a number of issues and as a result had become the closest they had been up to that point. Murdoch would love to do the same thing this time, if only to help Julia out, but he was still rather hesitant to do so. Their relationship was quite fresh and it had been far too turbulent in recent years for him to want to make her upset if he didn't have to. As well, this was supposed to be a happy occasion; he didn't want to mar it unnecessarily.

So his only goal today was to enjoy her company and the grand adventure in the sky.

* * *

As they approached the air vessel, Reginald came over to greet them.

Smiling widely while he firmly shook hands with Murdoch, he said, "Are you ready for this detective?"

"I hope so," Murdoch responded, politely returning his smile. "I've been looking forward to this all week."

Reginald then turned his attention to Julia. He took her hand and kissed it lightly; then began helping her into the vehicle. It was funny to think that Murdoch had thought him a romantic rival all those years ago. Then again, the truth of Julia's outings had been rather unimaginable. Murdoch didn't know anyone else who had actually desired to be at the mercy of such a bizarre form of transport. After all, it was simply an oversized basket attached to an even greater oversized balloon. One nick in the lining and it was game over. Not the safest thing he could think of, especially considering the number of birds in the area. He had hesitated going up the last time for just such a reason, but his desire to right wrongs had been strong enough to propel him upward and onward. It was one of his fondest memories. He wished he could be more spontaneous all the time but his rigid upbringing made it very difficult for him to do so.

Next it was Murdoch's turn to hop on in. Like the last time, he did it himself, with only the slightest of difficulties.

Reginald held out a bottle of absinthe and two glasses to Murdoch and said, "Don't want to forget about this, eh, detective?"

"No, I certainly don't."

"I really shouldn't even be letting you take this up with you but Julia asked so nicely that I just couldn't refuse." He winked at her, which annoyed Murdoch more than he cared to admit. "But don't overdo it. You need to keep at least some of your wits about you in order to operate this beast."

"I'll keep that in mind, sir," Murdoch said stiffly.

"I'm sure you will," he said smirking.

After Reginald ordered his men to let go of the ropes, he called, "Bon voyage. Have a good one. I'll see you two soon."

They thanked him and then held hands, beaming at one another, the sun mirroring them completely.

* * *

As they ascended into the air and closer to the sun, Murdoch couldn't help but be partially blinded by the light that dazzled off of Julia's white dress. It was quite stunning on her. She had bought it specifically for this occasion. The same thing went for his suit. She had insisted on buying it for him shortly after making her own purchase. While her generousity was admirable, he was reluctant for her to spend quite so much on him, all for just a mere piece of clothing. Julia only laughed and bought it anyways. And so it was that he was wearing a handsome blue suit, one that had been tailored to fit him like a glove, something he found fairly uncomfortable. But he bore his discomfort gracefully, with a smile and as much dignity as he could muster. The absinthe would soon help matters greatly.

"Here's to us," said Julia cheerfully as they clinked glasses. "May we stay this way for the rest of our lives."

"I'll drink to that," he said, equally joyfully.

With arms linked, they gazed out across the vast urban landscape of downtown Toronto and just soaked in the sights for a few minutes while they sipped away at their drinks. Before long it was time for a refill and Murdoch busied himself with the task, taking slightly longer than he should have, for he was already beginning to feel the effects of the green fairy. He was a much bigger light weight in that arena than Julia was but he wasn't about to call it quits already. Besides, it didn't take that much skill to operate the machine. He was sure he'd be able to safely manage at least one more drink.

After the effects of the second glass took hold of him, he was feeling quite tipsy. So much so, that he wished he could be the one leaning his head against her shoulder, rather than the reverse being true. It took a fair amount of effort for him to not sway, let alone remain upright. Julia didn't seem to notice though, the alcohol dulling her own senses as well.

When they had consumed a third glass, he decided that the only way he wouldn't be tempted to keep up with her drinking prowess was if he chucked the bottle out of the basket. Not that it mattered much at that point for they had consumed most of it anyways.

Julia looked at him blankly for a few seconds and then burst out laughing.

"What in the world did you do that for?" her words slightly slurring.

"It seemed like a good idea," he responded, his words extremely hazy.

There was silence for a little while and then Julia blurted out loudly, "So when are we gonna get married? Let's just elope! Whaddaya say?"

Murdoch stared at her briefly and then averted his gaze.

"What's wrong?" she asked. "Don't you still wanna?"

"Of course I do!" he exclaimed.

"So what's the problem, William?"

He grit his teeth and said what he had wanted to avoid saying at all costs.

"It's just…I think you need more time to get over what happened to you. I can tell that you haven't." Tears started to form in her eyes but he continued on, nonetheless. "And that's perfectly understandable, but I don't wanna officially start our new lives together with that storm cloud hanging over our heads. I wanna clean start, a fighting chance to have everything that we've always dreamed of. I think we deserve that much, don't you?"

The tears were now freely flowing but she wasn't sobbing at all. She flung herself into his arms, making them both fall over backwards. Luckily the basket was big enough and she didn't knock them overboard. Murdoch ended up sitting propped up against the side of the basket and she clung to him desperately. He didn't know what to do so he just held her, waiting for whatever came next, which as it turns out, was not what he was expecting.

* * *

The storm hit without warning. Thunder rumbled mightily and the basket shook violently, and as a result, they both fell over again. Murdoch scrambled to his feet and began manning the trigger for the propulsion system. He was attempting to lower them down to safety before their aircraft could be damaged. Julia was screaming something at him but he couldn't make out her words above all the booming. It was then that he realized that he wouldn't be able to lower them, at least not by _opening_ the blast valve. All the heat would do is take them higher up into the storm. He was annoyed that his mental faculties had been dimmed so much by the alcohol. At that moment, lightning flashed and cracked across the sky and he jumped involuntarily. It felt like it was just a few feet away, so high up in the atmosphere. Finally he regained his senses and closed the blast valve completely. The balloons' buoyancy would become gradually less over time. The question was whether they'd make it safely to the ground or not.

Murdoch hated that he had no control over the situation. He was utterly helpless and at the mercy of Mother Nature. He silently began praying for her to be kind to them. It began pouring and they huddled up together in one of the corners. Not just to avoid the rain as much as possible, but also because it had become extremely difficult to keep their footing.

The basket twisted and turned for what felt like hours. He was sure that they must have blown off course quite badly by now. It was going to be a pain to get back.

Then his worst fear came true. Something must have ripped through the balloon because they started to descend rapidly, much faster than could possibly allow for a safe landing. They shared a terrified look and then screamed as they plummeted to the ground. There was a horrendous noise as they crashed and were flung out of the basket. Murdoch attempted to hold on to her to protect her from harm but failed miserably. Then he felt a searing pain in his head and knew no more.


	2. Who to trust?

Murdoch opened his eyes, or rather tried to, for you see, he was almost completely face first in some thick mud. If he _had_ totally been, he likely would have suffocated while he was passed out.

_Thank God for small mercies._

This thought was short lived as the pain from their collision was now rearing its ugly head in full force. Every part of him hurt, but none as much as his head, which took the brunt of the blow. He groaned loudly and received a mouth full of muck as his reward. Turning onto his side, he spit the vile stuff out and just lay there for a few seconds, hoping that the world would stop spinning and noticing for the first time that the rain had ceased. Then it hit him.

_Julia!_

He attempted to push himself into a sitting position so he could survey the area better but gasped out as agony shot through his left shoulder blade. Gingerly touching it, he found that he had dislocated it, but thankfully nothing appeared to be broken. So he used his right hand to move himself into the desired position. His jaw dropped as he looked around. What he beheld was not a pretty sight. But he supposed it wasn't much worse than he was expecting.

It looked like a bomb had gone off. There were pieces of basket shrapnel everywhere. Some of which was lodged in the upper recesses of the nearby trees. Murdoch found this strange as he had thought they had hit the ground outright. He conceded that it was possible he was wrong and maybe the tree branches did break their fall somewhat. Everything had been so hectic that it was hard to be certain. The problem with this theory was that he didn't see any broken branches anywhere amongst the other debris. So maybe they just impacted with such force that the shrapnel ended up that high? But if that was the case, wouldn't they be dead? In any case, this wasn't of much importance right now. Sometimes his inquisitive mind got the better of him at the worst possible moments. What he needed to do was focus his attention on finding Julia.

To his horror, he couldn't spot her anywhere in the vicinity.

_Could she have flown that far away from the crash site?_

Of course it was possible but he didn't think it likely seeing as they had been in each other's arms previous to hitting the ground.

"Julia!" he screamed. There was no response. "Juliaaa!"

Groaning again, he forced himself to stand up, using his good hand as a pivot point. He tottered a bit, (as much from the alcohol still coursing through his veins as from the pain that shot through him at that instant), put his hand to his head and leaned against a tree until his light headedness and body strain had passed. Removing his hand, he found it was covered in semi-dried blood. The sight made him uncharacteristically queasy and he puked for several seconds. He wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his suit and then realized what he had just done.

_Oh well, it's not like a little vomit could really make it worse than it already looks._

And he was quite right. The handsome blue suit was in utter shambles. In fact, the sleeve he had just used was half falling off. As well, the entire front side was coated in mud. Only his shoes seemed to be in decent condition, which was fortunate, as he figured he was going to have to walk a ways through the forest to get back to humanity.

Scouring the area for clues of Julia's whereabouts, he began to lose hope that he would ever find her. Then he heard a noise and headed in the direction he thought the sound came from. Did his eyes deceive him? No, there was movement! Murdoch rushed over to a section of the balloon that had separated from the rest and threw it off to the side. _Yes, she was alive!_ But unfortunately not well. There was a nasty gash on the side of her right calf. It looked very painful and he held back his tears as best he could. As far as he could tell, the injury had been caused by part of the blast valve. At least the blood had mostly ceased to flow, like his own wound.

He knelt down and caressed her face gently. It was fairly bruised and cut up and he didn't want to hurt her any more than she already was. Most likely his own face was in no better condition.

Taking one of her hands in his, he asked softy, "Julia, can you hear me?"

A short while elapsed and her eyes flickered open. Just that amount of effort seemed to tax her strength greatly.

"William," she managed to croak out, with the tiniest of smiles. He returned it with a larger one but his brow was furrowed in worry. Next she gasped as the pain from her leg began to register. She grimaced but tried to shrug it off, like it was nothing. Then another spasm overtook her and she passed out again.

"Julia!" he exclaimed in alarm.

He wanted to bandage her wound up but didn't have any clean material to use. Absolutely everything available to him was covered in filth! He knew he was going to have to get her medical attention and therefore that he'd need to be able to pick her up, which meant that he had to fix his shoulder. He removed his leather belt, wiped the crud off of it and placed it securely in his mouth. Then he bit down hard. Grabbing his left arm, he rammed it upwards. The only result was excruciating pain and a muffled scream escaping his lips. Once the agony had dissipated enough, he tried again. This time it felt ten times worse and he almost blacked out from the pain. However, after a few seconds, it vanished almost entirely and he was left with only a dull throb. It was then that he realized he had successfully gotten his arm back in the socket. Waggling his fingers happily, he extracted the belt from his mouth. He had almost bit clean through it. Nevertheless, he replaced it around his waist.

Since he had no idea where they were it didn't really matter which direction he headed out. So he picked Julia up as carefully as he could manage and just started walking.

* * *

It was difficult to traverse the forest path without tripping on all the roots, so things were very slow going. After a while, his abdomen started to hurt. He ignored it and continued on, hoping to reach shelter before night time or at least before they froze to death. Julia's teeth had started to chatter and it was then that he determined that so were his. Being drenched and then exposed to the elements wasn't the best combination, especially when the temperature had nose-dived dramatically over the last little while.

Eventually it became impossible to ignore the pain in his side and he lowered Julia gently to the ground. It was then that he discovered a rip in his shirt underneath his suit. His pocket watch had shattered and some of the glass had lodged itself into his side. Apparently he hadn't noticed it before because his other injuries had taken precedence. However, once they were out of the way, his lesser wounds were allowed to take over the pain brigade. Pulling the shards out quickly, he was pleased to feel an immediate relief. And to make matters better, there was only a small amount of blood trickle emanating from the injuries.

_At least I won't bleed to death._

Murdoch was about to pick Julia up again when he saw something in the distance, or more correctly, someone. They were still too far away to be made out properly but he was pretty sure that the person was a man. He judged this by the way they walked more than anything else. The man spotted Murdoch, turned around and hollered at someone behind him, that Murdoch had been unable to see around the bend, and then there were two men running towards them.

Murdoch didn't know what to expect so he was on guard as they rapidly approached him. And so it was that he was standing protectively in front of Julia when they finally arrived.

They were rather scraggly looking men, who seemed to spend a lot of time in the bush, and who didn't bathe very often as evidenced by the less than delightful aroma wafting from their direction. They appeared to be related and in their thirties but it was hard to tell with all the smeared dirt clouding their features. Needless to say, their appearance did little to alleviate his fears and he reflexively got into a fighting stance.

The second man laughed at that and the first one elbowed him in the ribs. That shut him up quickly.

"You okay mister?" said the first man with a southern drawl. "We was out hunting" (it was then that Murdoch noticed they had rifles strapped to their backs) "and we saw that thingamajig fall outta the darn sky! This here idjit," he hooked a thumb at the other man, "thought them Martians was landing! I told him he was a damn fool but he's dumb as a doornail!" Murdoch's expression must have been menacing enough that the man stopped talking so cheerfully and got back to the matter at hand. "So, uh, can we help y'all out? We was heading back to town anyways. It'd be no trouble at all. We didn't catch a damn thing."

The second man grumbled at that statement but didn't say anything. Murdoch wasn't sure if he could trust these men, so he wasn't moving a muscle.

"You followin' me?"

Murdoch nodded slightly.

The man got a puzzled expression on his face and then said, "Oh, I see. You 'fraid of us mister? Don't be. We might look like rascals but we's good people. Besides, you need us to get outta this here forest. You been goin' the wrong way! It'd take days to get out that darn way! And by the looks of things, you ain't gonna last that long."

Murdoch still didn't respond or make a move.

"Okay, how's about this? I give you one of our guns and then you don't needa be so darn 'fraid of us. How's that sound?"

Murdoch nodded.

The man turned to his companion and said, "Give him your gun."

"I don't wanna," complained the second man, also with an accent. "Give him yours!"

The first man effortlessly pulled him into a head lock. The second man struggled feebly. "Give him your damn gun, Marvin!" he shouted.

"No!"

The first man began squeezing and Marvin started to go purple.

He managed to squeak out, "Fine! Lemme go you stinkin' bastard!"

The first man released him and Marvin begrudgingly handed over his rifle.

"You better not break it," he murmured.

Murdoch still wasn't sure what to do. If he strapped it on his back so that he could carry Julia again, it wouldn't be much use to him if he did end up needing it for whatever reason. But at the same time, he didn't really want either of them touching her.

The first man seemed to pick up on his dilemma and said, "You can keep that gun out and I'll carry the purdy lady. I promise to behave like a gentleman. If I go back on my word," he grinned widely, "you can shoot me."

It was pretty obvious that he didn't have much of a choice. They were going to freeze without their help and besides which, he was far too exhausted from everything to carry her much further. Just holding the gun was tiring him out. So he sighed and let the man pick her up.

* * *

"I'm Frank, by the way," he said after they started moving. "And that there's my dumbass brother Marvin."

"Yes, I gathered as much," said Murdoch. "I'm detective William Murdoch."

Frank stopped in his tracks and shared a look with Marvin.

"What's the matter?" asked Murdoch.

"Oh, nothin'," responded Frank as he continued walking again. "It's just…we don't often times come across no po-lease."

"I see," said Murdoch, getting suspicious again.

Frank saw his expression and said, "Like I told you before. We ain't bad people. You see, our towns real small so we don't got any coppers there."

"And how small would that be?"

"Oh, I reckon there's maybe twenty of us, all told."

Murdoch didn't like this revelation. It meant that it was highly unlikely that they had an actual doctor there.

Frank noticed him glancing at Julia and said, "Don't you worry mister. We's got a great lady over yonder who'll fix her up in a jiffy! She done fixed all my busted bones!" He laughed at that. "Everythin's gonna be hunky dory!"

Murdoch wasn't quite so sure. For whatever reason, he felt that there was something off about these two. He felt it in his gut. But it was probably nothing. Maybe it was just the cop side of him being paranoid, or maybe not. He would find out soon enough.


	3. The Generator

"Welcome to Melville."

"Forgive me, sir, but where exactly is that?"

Frank gave him a funny look and said, "Why it's just outsida Pickerin'."

Murdoch's eyes bulged involuntarily. _Was he serious? Because if so, they had blown over twenty kilometers away from Toronto!_

"Somethin' the matter mister?" asked Frank.

"I'm just a bit shocked to be so far away from home."

"Where was it you done come from in that crazy contraption of yours?"

"The city of Toronto."

"Shu-wee!" he exclaimed, slapping his thigh. "That sure is a long ways off fella."

"Yes, it's quite a bit more than I was expecting."

Frank hadn't lied about the size of the town. If one could even call it that. There appeared to be only ten buildings in the whole place! Most of which were people's houses, (but closer to shacks than anything else), and most of which had seen better days. As far as he could tell in the fading light (for there were no lanterns), there wasn't even a general store of any sort. He figured that they must get all their supplies from a nearby town. All in all, it was a very lonely sort of place, and the last place he wished to be at the moment. But there was nothing he could do about it. There was one consolation: at least they weren't still in the forest. Murdoch could barely move anymore and his arms had become numb from holding the rifle in the same position for so long. In fact, his fingers felt like they were glued to it.

As they approached one of the shacks, a middle aged lady came out to greet them.

She took one look at the scene and said half scoldingly, half teasingly, "How many times do I gotta tell y'all that deers is the ones with antlers sticking outta their heads?"

"Sorry mama," said Marvin. "We done the best we could. Ain't nothin'-"

She waved her hands and said, "Never min' 'bout that! Where's your manners boys?" she snapped. "Those two look fixin' to die any minute now! Bring 'em on in near the fire, Frankie. And you," she said to Marvin, "go get Miss Lidia and then wash up for dinner. It's just 'bout ready."

"Yes mama," said Marvin and then hurried off to complete his assigned tasks.

After she scooted them into her house, (which was lit with only a few lamps) and Julia was laid beside the fire place (where a delightful smell was emanating from a pot), she pried the rifle out of Murdoch's hands with surprising ease for an older woman and then yanked the other off of Frank.

"I'd ruther not have these here darn things in my home! No siree bob! Not on my watch!" Then she strode outside and leaned them against the house.

Murdoch looked at Frank for explanation as he tried to make his fingers function.

"Our papa was a damn fool who drank whiskey like it was water." He looked across the room and into the kitchen, "Sho' nuff, he had an accident one night."

Murdoch could still make out the shotgun holes and shivered.

"Mister," said Frank, "you best hunker down by the purdy lady 'fore you freeze to death! I'd offer you a change of clothes," he patted his torso, "but, well, I don't got none." His eyes lit up and he left the living room and into a side one. When he reemerged, he was carrying a stack of clothing. "You can have papa's ol' suit." Murdoch gave him a confused look and Frank explained, "We done buried him in his regimentals. He done like nothin' better than to shoot them fellers between the eyes." Frank smiled at that, like it was a fond memory and then said, "And I brought this," he held out a big woolen blanket, "for your lady friend."

Murdoch graciously accepted both things and hurried to cover Julia up. Her teeth immediately stopped chattering, something he was extremely pleased to note. Then he went into another room and changed out of his damp clothing as quickly as he could. His hands were still not functioning properly so it was not nearly as fast as he would have liked. The brown suit wasn't the best fit so he used his belt to hold up the trousers. At least he wasn't freezing anymore and wouldn't be uncomfortable.

When he finally resurfaced, it was to a youngish lady holding a lantern and hovering over Julia. Murdoch didn't like the fact that she kept making tsking sounds as she examined her wounds. If Marvin had washed up, it sure didn't show. He was just as dirty as ever. Marvin must have caught sight of Murdoch then because he laughed again. This time Frank punched him in the arm.

"Sorry, mister. Papa was a darn big fella. I just thought-"

"It's quite all right Frank. These clothes are fine."

Murdoch knelt down beside Lidia and asked (having a bad sense of déjà vu as he did), "What can you tell me doctor?"

Lidia looked up and smirked at that. "I'm not a doctor, sir," she said, with no trace of accent. "I just help these folks out the best that I know how. My daddy was the one who taught me everything I know. But he wasn't a doctor either. It just came natural to him I guess."

Disappointed to hear this news and trying not to let it show, he said, "Nevertheless, Lidia, what is your diagnosis?"

She pursed her lips and said, "This woman is lucky to be alive. And by your looks, I'd say the same thing applies to you. What the hell happened to you two?"

"We fell out of the sky."

Lidia looked like she was going to laugh but when she saw Murdoch's expression, decided against it. "You're serious, aren't you?"

"I'm afraid so, miss."

"I told you they was Martians!" yelled Marvin. "They gonna get us! We should-"

Frank just punched him again and Marvin quieted down, with a grimace on his face as he rubbed the sore spot on his arm.

"What in tarnation is all that racket 'bout?" said their mother as she came into the room to grab whatever was cooking over the fire.

"Nothin' mama!" exclaimed Frank. "We all good now!"

Mama eyed her boys suspiciously and then exited the room again.

"Anyways," said Murdoch, "can you fix her?"

"Of course I can," responded Lidia. "It shouldn't be too difficult."

"Then why do you look so worried?"

"Well… I'll clean it the best I can but this wound got awfully dirty and…" Her voice trailed off here.

He knew what she meant but asked anyways, "And what?"

"And, her chances at recovery won't be as high if she's suffering from an infection. And judging by her fever, I'd say that it's very likely."

It was then that Murdoch noted the beads of sweat on her forehead. "Can't you give her something for that?"

"Of course."

"So what's the problem!" he exclaimed.

"People sometimes have a bad reaction to it."

"How bad?" he asked dreading the answer.

"Let's just say, there used to be more of us in this town."

Murdoch looked away to hide his tears from her. However, he quickly regained control of his emotions. "Well, then, miss, you better get to it."

Lidia gave him a sympathetic look but didn't say anything. Then she retrieved the needed supplies from her bag and got to work.

They had a surprisingly scrumptious dinner while Lidia tended to Julia. Murdoch was told that it was moose stew. He took their word for it since he had never had such a thing before. While they ate, the boys filled Mama in on everything they had seen that day, the story culminating in the hot air balloon crash, which they still referred to as a thingamajig. Mama oohed and aahed at the fantastical story and kept looking at Murdoch like maybe Marvin was right. After several 'heavens to Betsy's', she had calmed down enough to start telling Murdoch about everything required to make such a perfect dish. The boys groaned but she paid them no mind. Murdoch tried his hardest to be polite and pay attention but after the days' events and now a full stomach, he found his eyes drooping frequently. Both the boys sniggered when they saw what was happening to him. Mama scolded them for it and then led Murdoch to the bedroom.

"You can rest here for the night, mister. Them boys can just sleep outside. They used to it anyways."

The bed did look extremely inviting but he still felt there was something off about these people and didn't want to leave Julia alone all night. "Actually, ma'am, I'd like to stay with her if you don't mind."

"Suit yourself, fella. But that floor get awful uncomfortable after a while."

"That's really not necessary," said Lidia by the fire. She looked apologetic, "It's hard not to eavesdrop in these houses. Anyways, what I meant was that you won't be able to do anything for her. Her fate is in God's hands now. And besides which, you look like you could really use some rest yourself. "

"I appreciate your concern, miss, but I assure you, it's unwarranted."

Lidia didn't look like she believed that in the slightest but chose not to comment. "Well, at least let me check you out a bit before I go." He was about to protest when she continued, "I'll sleep better if you do me this one courtesy."

Murdoch sighed and let her examine him. She cleaned and bandaged the cuts on his abdomen and face. He winced when she touched his head injury but she paid him no mind and then proceeded to clean and bandage that as well.

"Other than that ugly bump on your head, you appear to be in remarkably good condition considering what happened to you. It's quite unbelievable actually." There was silence for a moment and then, "Tell me..."

"Detective Murdoch."

She gave him a piercing stare and then said, "Tell me detective, did you by any chance consume a large amount of alcohol before this spectacular fall of yours?"

"As a matter of fact, we did," he responded, puzzled at how she knew.

"Ah," she muttered, "that explains it."

"How so, Lidia?" he asked.

"Alcohol relaxes ones muscles a great deal. So much so that the body can survive things that it normally wouldn't be able to. The more intoxicated the person is, the greater the trauma can be."

Murdoch was surprised by her knowledge. "And how did you come to know this information, miss?"

"Oh, I read a lot," was her only response. "Well, I'm going to head out now. If you need me for any reason, just let me know. I'm in the house at the end of the road."

Murdoch recalled that that was one of the larger buildings in the area and an idea struck him. "Wait," he said, "is there by any chance a phone there?"

He thought it a good idea to inform the constabulary of what had happened to them, and maybe also to get a ride out of there.

"Yes, there is."

"Can I please use it?"

She seemed to hesitate before saying, "I'm afraid the storm knocked out my generator and it's not working at the moment."

_Of course it did._

"Do you mind if I take a look at it, miss?"

"I thought you said you were a detective?"

"I did. But I might be able to fix the problem."

"All right, but then I really must insist that you get some rest."

"Of course." In his head he doubted very much that he'd allow himself to drift off to sleep. No matter how drowsy he was, he was far too antsy for such things. Just leaving Julia alone for the time it would take to inspect the generator was too much, as far as he was concerned anyways.

Now that the sun had set, and the only light available to them was emanating from Lidia's lamp, his apprehension was increased ten-fold. The place had a ghoulish quality to it since it was so disturbingly quiet. Then he had the unsettling feeling that he was being watched. He glanced around discreetly so as not to alarm Lidia but she picked up on his distress regardless.

"What seems to be the problem detective?"

"Oh, nothing."

"You feel like someone's watching you right?"

"How did you know?"

"Everyone feels that way for the first couple of nights here. Even I did."

"Forgive me for asking, but why exactly _are_ you here? You don't really seem to belong."

"It's hard to explain, detective," she replied. "I guess this place just has sentimental value to me. I've found it hard to leave even though my father passed away some time ago."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Thanks." They entered her house. "Well anyways, this is where I've lived all my life. It's not much but its home."

Compared to the rest of the town, the house was a mansion, full of semi-decent furniture and even a piano, though it was pretty run down.

She led him through the house and back outside again to where the generator resided and held up the lamp so that he could inspect it better. Nothing appeared to be damaged on the outside.

"Do you have any tools I could use to take off the cover?"

Lidia pointed to a box nearby on the ground. Murdoch retrieved the necessary tools and opened up the generator. It didn't take long to figure out what was wrong with it. The fact was, there _wasn't_ anything wrong, nothing that he could see anyways.

_What was going on here?_

Then he heard what he had been dreading all along, the sound of a gun being cocked, and his blood ran cold.


	4. The Great Murdoch

"Turn 'round nice and slow fella."

Murdoch couldn't tell which brothers voice it was. Their accents had sounded identical to him. Once he partially regained his wits, he did as the man commanded and came face to face with the business end of a familiar looking rifle. Murdoch managed to tear his eyes away for a moment to see a smug looking Marvin holding the weapon. Lidia was off to the side of him, eyes downcast. She sneaked a look at Murdoch for a moment. It was hard to tell in the dim lighting but he could have sworn that she gave him an apologetic look.

"What's going on here?" Murdoch half whispered.

"Don't you worry 'bout that mister."

An idea struck him then. Maybe this was all simply a silly misunderstanding.

"Look," he said more normally, "we aren't Martians. We fell out of a hot air balloon. Something in the storm must have torn through the balloon's lining and then we crashed. There was no spaceship or anything extraterrestrial like that. We're perfectly human."

Marvin just laughed at that. "Uh huh, mister."

_Was that really all this was about? Then why on earth did Lidia lie to him? And why wasn't she trying to reason with Marvin now?_

Murdoch heard the sound of hurried footsteps approaching in the utter stillness of the area.

"What in tarnation you doin' Marvin?" said Frank as he appeared through the gloom.

"I'm not lettin' him get away!" shouted Marvin.

Frank made a disturbing growling sound, like he was an angry dog. "You're the biggest idjit I ever done had the misfortune of knowin'." he said quietly, almost waspishly. "What did we just agree on?"

"I don't care!" screamed Marvin.

Frank walked over to his brother and slapped him across the face with such force that he staggered mightily. Luckily Marvin's finger hadn't been on the trigger or he might have accidentally pulled it right then. While he was still reeling from the blow, Frank yanked the gun out of his hands.

"Thank you very much," said Murdoch, beginning to gain a little sense of ease. "I believe that this has all been just one big misunderstanding. You see-"

Frank appeared to have not heard him for he continued talking to Marvin like he hadn't.

"Explain yerself," he said calmly.

"We need him!" Marvin whined. "It's been so darn long since the last one."

"I thought we done agreed he was off limits?" said Frank. "Do you want them po-lease coming here?"

As they talked, Murdoch became increasingly unsettled. If they simply wanted to rob them, they would have done so by now. He didn't really think this was the case though because they didn't have any money on them anyways. So if not robbery, then what?

"Them coppers wouldn't have known what the hell happened to 'em!"

"You can't possibly know that, you damn moron!"

Now the blood drained from his face again. Could they possibly be talking about…murdering them? But if so, for what purpose?

He didn't want to stick around to find out, so he began slinking away quietly while the brothers were distracted.

He had almost made it out of sight when he heard one of them exclaim, "He's gettin' away!"

Murdoch sprinted towards the shack that Julia resided in. He had to get to her and get out of there, he just had to!

A gunshot rang out loud and clear, the dirt beside him exploding. Another shot whizzed through the air right beside his skull and lodged in the side of one of the shacks.

It was then that something occurred to him. Why wasn't anyone coming out to see what all the fuss was about? Then it hit him. He could have smacked himself for not noticing it earlier. He hadn't seen anyone else in the town since he had gotten there! Was it just the four of them? What did they do to the rest of the townsfolk?

Then all thought was erased from his mind as a blinding pain erupted in his right arm.

"You got him!" someone hollered, he assumed Marvin.

Trying to ignore the agony coursing through his limb, he trudged onwards, momentum severely slowed. Before he could go much further though, Mama stepped out of the shadows pointing the second rifle at him. That made him stop dead in his tracks. So he just stood there holding his arm and feeling extremely foolish about the predicament he now found himself in.

Footsteps pounded up the path behind him and he was now surrounded from both sides.

"Lock him up boys and then fix that arm of his Lidia," said Mama authoritatively. "We don't want it gettin' infected and have to chop it off." She gave Murdoch a devilish grin and said, "At least not yet. We needa use up the other one first. She not long from this world anyways. I think there enough meat on her bones to keep us happy for a while."

Murdoch stared at her in horror and then puked on the ground in front of him. These people were cannibals! Then a miasma of thoughts whirled through his head, seemingly all at once. What kind of food had he just eaten? Was it their previous victim? How could he be so unlucky as to wind up here? Was God still punishing him for his previous sin? He couldn't believe anyone deserved such a miserable end. Least of all him. And Julia. How could he possibly rescue her now?

_Forgive me dearest._

"Well, let's get goin' mister," said Frank. "And don't look so darn sad, you should consider it an honour to be our dinner guest."

All three of them laughed, except for Lidia. She was still holding the lantern and looking anywhere but at Murdoch. He couldn't help but wonder what her deal was. Why was she helping these monsters?

The brothers marched him back towards Lidia's place, if indeed it was even hers. When they arrived, they led him into the basement. Frank pointed towards a large rusty pole with his gun and told him to stand with his back to it. Then Marvin pulled his arms behind him and around the other side of the pole and secured them there with something. He assumed handcuffs by the feel of them. It was then that he felt so sick and exhausted that he had to sit down, so he slid down the pole.

"That's right fella," said Frank. "Might as well get comfortable here. You gonna be here awhile."

The brothers laughed again and then left him alone with Lidia. It was pitch black down there except for the small amount of light coming from the lamp behind him. He couldn't see her tending to his wound but he could sure feel it.

"Why are you doing this?" he asked downtrodden.

There was no response.

"What's wrong with you Lidia? Why are you helping these monsters?"

Still silence.

"How many others have you helped slaughter? You're just as bad as them!"

That last remark got her attention and she said quietly, "You don't understand. I don't have a choice."

Then she ripped out the bullet and he gasped as his wound began to throb nastily.

After he recovered enough from that shock he said, "What do you mean? Of course you have a choice!"

He couldn't be sure but he thought she had begun to cry, though she was doing her best to stifle the sound.

As she cleaned and bandaged his wound she whispered, "Everything was fine here until my father died. I didn't tell you this before but he was sort of the law keeper here, as well as a healer. You see, he used to be a ranger. That's why he liked remote, quiet areas like this, where he could just be alone with his thoughts. We moved here after his mother passed away and left him this place. Anyways, after he died, from a heart attack, nothing sinister, thank God, something strange just happened to some of the folks here. It was like now that there was no one here to keep them in line, it didn't matter how they behaved. It started with small things, like not being as polite to others as they used to be. Things gradually got worse, until one day, some folks got into a duel over some cockamamie thing and a man was shot dead. It was like a switch had been flipped, because shortly after that, all hell broke loose and there was gun fire everywhere! The town had gone completely and utterly mad! I ran for cover while the carnage took place. Soon the only people left standing were Mama and her boys. There were so many bodies though. I had never seen anything like it before. Instead of burying them like I thought they would, they decided that they wouldn't let such good meat go to waste. They started eating people! I tried to get away at that point, to get help from the nearest town. Unfortunately, they caught me and told me that if I tried to run away again, they'd eat me alive, slowly and painfully. They said they didn't want to do that because I could be useful to them, which is why they haven't done away with me yet. Now they chain me up every night just to help dissuade me from doing something foolish."

Murdoch was speechless. He had never heard of anything so bizarre and revolting in his life. Had these people suffered from an extreme form of cabin fever? Or had they been infected with something that made them insane? Was Lidia simply the only one who had been immune? Then again, was anything she had just told him even real? Or was she just trying to get his sympathies for some unknown reason?

"Say something please," she begged in the darkness.

"I-I don't know what to say," he responded.

"Call me Satan! Call me monster. At least tell me I'm a coward. I know I am. I just couldn't bring myself to fight back. I was too afraid of what would happen." She started sobbing now and despite everything, he felt sorry for her.

"Let me help you," he said desperately. "I can help you stop them and then you'll be safe and you can leave this place forever. You just have to untie me."

"I c-can't," she moaned. "I j-just can't!"

"Yes you can Lidia! I'll make a phone call and get constables in from the nearby town to help us. Then you can tie me back up again. They'll never know what you did!"

She snorted at that. "There's no phone here! Do you really think they'd let me keep it?"

Even though his spirits had sunken like a heavy stone at that news, he said as calmly as he could, for he was afraid that he was about to lose her, "We can take them together. Two against three isn't such bad odds. We'd stand a fighting chance then! We can do-"

"What the devil you doin' down there Lidia? You must be finished by _now_! If you're thinking of tryin' somethin', you gonna be sorry girl!"

_That was the nail in my coffin. She's not going to help me now._

And sure enough, he could her scrambling to her feet and then like a flash of lightning, saw her scurrying up the stairs. She turned around at the top and mouthed the words, "I'm sorry." Then she disappeared from view and he felt like the world had ended.

Julia, he thought, and then wept bitterly.

Eventually he came to his senses and began thinking of ways to escape. The shackles were far too tight to allow for any wriggling room. He was totally and absolutely stuck to the spot. Standing up again, he leaned forward, applying as much pressure as he could to the chain link in between the cuffs. He had a feeling before he even attempted it that it would be futile for others before him must have done the same. Sure enough, nothing happened. He tried again, this time with a sharper movement, hoping more momentum might help. And this time something _did_ happened, though it wasn't what he wanted to. All he accomplished was cutting a bit into his wrists. He could feel the blood trickling down to his elbows.

If only he could see something, then maybe he could find something to free himself with. Since there was no chance of that happening, he'd just have to make do with what was available to him. And luckily for him, his ingenuity knew no bounds.

He started thinking about the time he came into contact with Houdini. How had that magician managed to escape so easily from seemingly impossible odds? What had his secret been? Murdoch wracked his brain, trying to discover the illusionists techniques based on everything he had seen him do. He knew Houdini had been double jointed and was capable of dislocating his arms and maybe even his legs at will. He knew Houdini must also have had superior knowledge of the inner workings of all kinds of locks. He must have known exactly where the weak points were.

Murdoch had no such luxury. He couldn't even see the locking mechanism that now enslaved him. So he'd have to focus his efforts on dislocation. Thinking for awhile about the possible ways in which he could accomplish this, he eventually came to an unavoidable conclusion. He'd have to break one his thumbs. But once he did, that hand would become less than useless. So how was he going to rescue Julia? Or even handle a rifle if he managed to get his hands on one?

Trying his best not to be overwhelmed by these depressing thoughts, he mentally prepared himself for what he was about to do. Taking his left hand in his right, he searched for the exact point where he would make the break. Then he did. The pain was exquisite but no worse than anything else he had suffered from that day. He muffled his groan as much as possible by biting down on his lip. It worked fairly well except that he bit his lip harder than he intended to and it started to bleed profusely. However, that was the least of his concerns at the moment. At least he hadn't alerted them to his prison break. That was of course, assuming they were still up above him and not back at their own residence.

After the agony had subsided enough, he was able to easily slip his left hand out of the shackles. Because of the way he had been attached to the pole, he was now free! It would have been the epitome of stupidity to break his remaining hand, just to get the handcuffs completely off. So he left it dangling there and cautiously made his way up the stairs.


	5. What in the World?

He hoped greatly that the door here was not locked. Otherwise, everything he had just suffered would be for naught. Turning the handle as slowly as he could, he was delighted to find that it wasn't. Opening the door the tiniest of cracks, he peered out into the living room area. He could discern no movement or sound of any kind. So he continued opening the door in small increments, so that he could remain undetected if anyone happened to be nearby.

Creeping through the darkened house, he wanted to avoid bumping into anything and at the same time, tried to find something to use as a weapon. He figured his best bet would be in the kitchen. Rather than grabbing a knife (for no matter how horrible these people were, he still preferred to avoid killing them if he could), he opted for a heavy looking frying pan.

As he reached for it, he heard a gasp behind him and he spun around rapidly, ready for anything. It was Lidia. She stared at him like he was a ghost.

"How did you-"

"Never mind that Lidia," he whispered. "Will you help me now? If we work together, we can end this nightmare once and for all. Don't you want that?"

Lidia continued to gaze at him in a horrified manner but then nodded, almost imperceptibly in the relative gloom.

"You should arm yourself as well then Lidia. Find something you'll feel comfortable wielding."

Apparently she had no qualms about severely injuring them because she picked out the biggest knife in the drawer. Murdoch was a little uneasy about this as she was an unpredictable element. She could easily chicken out and turn on him instead. It was too late to do anything about that now. The fact was, he needed her help. Without it, he didn't stand a snowballs hell in chance at overwhelming all three of them.

Silently praying that everything would be okay, Murdoch began tiptoeing towards the back entrance, but Lidia stopped him.

"We should just stay here," she said. "One of them usually comes to tie me up around now."

While Murdoch didn't want to waste any precious time, he also thought their odds much better if they took the deviants out one by one.

"Fine," he said. "I'll wait five minutes but that's it."

Lidia led Murdoch across the house to where her bedroom was. He grimaced as he saw the chains used to prevent her from escaping each night. They glimmered evilly in the blackness of the room. He hoped to God that no liberties had been taken with her.

_Poor, poor child. No one should be forced to endure what she has._

Within seconds he had formulated a plan. He explained it to Lidia as quickly as possible and then hid himself in the shadows.

"Oh Lidia," called the odious voice of one of the brothers. "It's time to get tucked in. You best be ready by the time I get there."

Marvin entered the room carrying a lantern, his face ghoulish in the reflected light. Lidia lay on the bed, ready to be trapped once again.

"Good girl," cooed Marvin. "You know your place."

When he was busy with the shackles, Murdoch snuck up behind him and struck him in the head. He collapsed with a resounding thud.

_One down, two to go._

Lidia gave him a dumbfounded look, like she couldn't believe how easy it had been to take him out. Then it turned to shame, for she knew in her heart that she could have stopped them earlier, if only she had been braver.

"What's done is done, Lidia. There's no point worrying about past mistakes now. We need to focus on the present."

She nodded and then helped Murdoch undress Marvin as quickly as possible. His clothing stunk to high heaven but there was nothing he could do about it. This was no time for modesty so she helped him undress as well and then redress in Marvin's clothing. Once finished, they heaved Marvin onto the bed so that he could be chained in Lidia's stead and to prevent any unwanted situations later. Time was of the essence now as they surely would be starting to get suspicious about how long it was taking Marvin to complete his task. So Murdoch grabbed the lantern and headed out the front entrance, Lidia stealthily keeping her distance.

Before he went too far, he crouched down to pick up a hand full of dirt and rubbed it all over his face and mussed up his hair as well.

"You the slowest idjit I ever done met," said Frank as Murdoch entered the shack.

Mama was nowhere to be seen, though Julia was still by the fire, sweating profusely and looking the worse for wear.

"You forget how to talk too?" said Frank mockingly. "If you was any dumber, you be dead."

Murdoch made a non-committal grunt and then entered further into the room, bidding his time until he was close enough to attack.

"Ah, don't tell me I hurt your feelings?" Frank said laughing. "I thought you was too dumb to have any." He must have taken a closer look at Murdoch because he said, "Hey wait a minute, your-"

It was now or never. If he didn't make his move soon, all would be lost. He threw the lantern at a bewildered Frank and then immediately advanced on him, drawing the frying pan from his belt as he did so. By the time Frank had caught the lamp, Murdoch was on him. First Murdoch hit him in the stomach and when he doubled over, he thumped him on the head. Frank groaned and crumpled to the ground like his brother, the lantern falling out of his hands but not shattering from the impact.

"That's enough!" screamed Mama from behind him.

Murdoch whirled around, ready for anything. But he wasn't prepared for this, never that. Mama stood by Julia, with one foot over her neck. If she wanted to, she could snap it like a twig.

"How dare you come into my home and attack my boy! What'd you do to Marvin?"

When he didn't answer, she put pressure on Julia's neck. Her breathing became laboured and Murdoch winced at the sight.

"I assure you, he's perfectly all right."

Mama snorted at that and said, "Why should I trust you? You'd say anythin' right now so I'd stop this!"

He cursed Lidia for not helping him out like she was supposed to. Since he couldn't stand idly by, he moved towards Mama.

With that she put even more pressure on her delicate airway. Julia awoke, eyes bulging out of her sockets, gasping for air and clawing feebly at Mama's foot.

"I wouldn't do that if I was you mister!" screamed Mama. "Not if you want her purdy head to stay on!"

Murdoch backed off and Mama released the pressure slightly on Julia's neck.

"What do you want me to do?" pleaded Murdoch.

"I want you to die!"

"Okay," he said slowly, "how about this. How about you let her go and then I'll leave right now."

"You just bring them coppers here if I let you do that!"

Running out of options, he frantically said, "You must have known that you couldn't keep this up forever! You were bound to get caught at some point! It's pointless to fight fate any longer! Stop while you still have your life!"

Mama laughed manically at that. Then she gave him an evil grin and raised her foot up high. Murdoch screamed and then charged at her, knowing even before he did so that he wouldn't make it in time.

Right before impact, Julia managed to roll out of the way enough to avoid getting crushed. Mama's foot went right through the floorboards and got stuck there. Before she could attempt to dislodge it, Murdoch threw the pan at her head and she too fell over unconscious.

_Thank God it's finally over._

He went over to Julia who was viewing the whole scene in utter disbelief.

"Julia?"

Her eyes readjusted on him and she burst into tears.

"Oh William!" she exclaimed as she flung her arms around his neck.

He embraced her the best that he could with his one functioning hand.

"I'm so sorry," he said mournfully. "I should have protected you better."

"Nonsense, William. What could you possibly have done differently?"

Lidia came into the room at that moment and Murdoch turned on her angrily.

"I'm very disappointed in you Lidia! You were supposed to help me out! Why didn't you?"

It was then that he noticed her expression and the rifle by her side.

"Lidia, you don't want to do this! _Why_ are you doing this?"

"Because you'll turn me in too!" she yelled. "And I don't want to be hung!"

Murdoch shook his head in disgust. "I would have spoken to the judge on your behalf! I would have helped you! You must have known that! And besides which, what do you think's going to happen once I'm dispatched? Do you really think you're going to get away with this?"

He saw a flicker of doubt cross her eye but she didn't say anything.

"You have all the power here Lidia! You can still do the right thing!"

"It's too late for that!" she screamed.

Before anyone had time to think, she whipped out the gun and pulled the trigger. The bullet found its target, right smack between Murdoch's eyes.

The next second he awoke face first in the mud.


	6. Could it be?

_What in the world?_

He rolled over on his side so that he could breathe better. After awhile, he pushed himself to his feet and felt his right ankle spasm badly. Apparently he had sprained it. This time his arm had not been dislocated, it had been broken. He cradled it the best he could while he searched for Julia among the wreckage. Strangely enough, he found her in the exact same location as the last time. Her legs appeared to be unharmed and she was conscious, though one of her arms was pointing out at an odd angle. She moved into a sitting position when she saw him, reaching her good arm out to him as she did so. They smiled, clasped hands and then kissed deeply.

"William," she said, slightly breathless as she caressed his face, "are you all right?"

"Never better," he said and then laughed.

"What are you laughing for? We almost died!"

"Yes, Julia, but that's just it. We didn't. It's quite unbelievable, don't you think?"

"I suppose," she replied, "but we did consume a fair amount of alcohol. It probably helped us survive."

He jumped up and exclaimed, "Or maybe I'm really dead and I'll be forced to re-live this over and over again, for all eternity!" Then he laughed in a delirious manner.

"William," said Julia uncertainly, looking extremely shocked by his lack of control. "You took a nasty blow to the head; I don't think you're thinking too clearly."

"Oh but I am Julia," he said very seriously. "This is the first time I've thought clearly all day! I never thought I'd be stuck in purgatory or that you'd be part of my nightmare, but here we are, once again!"

"You're starting to scare me! I wish you could hear yourself! You sound insane!"

Something in her voice or expression snapped him out of his ramblings. He felt extremely embarrassed for how he had just acted.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I don't know what came over me."

"It's okay, William. We just experienced severe trauma. I wouldn't expect you to be completely fine. You were probably just in shock. Anyways, we should probably get out of here soon before we freeze to death."

Murdoch helped her up and then they began their journey out of the woods, Murdoch leaning on Julia to support his sprained ankle. Soon it became obvious that they'd need to make arm slings as every step sent paroxysms of pain shooting through their damaged limbs. Since Murdoch's suit was in tatters, he didn't mind ripping it apart. In fact, it made it easier to do so. Julia helped him and together they fashioned suitable slings for their broken bones. When they commenced their trek again, Murdoch began silently praying that things would turn out differently this time. But no matter what he did, he couldn't stop himself from dreading what was to come next. And who could blame him?

They made it out of the forest surprisingly quickly, and Murdoch was happy to note, without encountering any unwanted guests. However, when he saw where they had come out, his jaw dropped. It looked eerily similar to the town from last time, and just as unsettling as there appeared to be no one around. He desperately wanted to turn back around or keep on going until their legs gave out. As far as he was concerned, anything would be preferable to staying there.

"Julia, wait," he said barring her way. "Let's try for the next town. This one looks deserted. I don't think we'll be able to get any help here."

"How can you know that, William, unless we look around a bit first?"

"Trust me, Julia. It's a matter of life and death!"

"William," she said, looking anxious, "you're scaring me again. What's all this about?"

Rather than answering her question he said, "Do you love me?"

"Of course I do. Do you even have to ask?"

"Then just trust me and let's get out of here!"

"All ri-"

"What's all the hub bub about?" said a man from behind them.

Murdoch turned around and almost punched out whoever it was but Julia stopped him, yelling, "William!"

"Whoa there friend!" he exclaimed, hands waving. "I don't want any trouble, and by the looks of you, I'd say you've experienced your fair share today."

Murdoch came to his senses as he finally realized that this man was _not_ one of the brothers. He didn't resemble them in any way, shape or form. This man looked like a real gentleman.

"I'm sorry, sir. Please forgive my indiscretion. It's been an extremely trying day for me."

"No worries. I'm Fred by the way," he said, reaching out his hand. "Pleased to meet you…"

"Detective William Murdoch," he said, extending his good hand out.

"A detective, eh?" Fred said, looking slightly surprised. "If you don't mind my asking, what happened to you two? And are you okay?"

"Didn't you see?" Fred gave him a non-comprehending look. "We had a mishap with a hot air balloon." Fred's eyes widened but he didn't say anything. "We should be okay though." Then Murdoch changed topics. "So where are we, sir?"

The man appeared confused by the question but answered anyways. "We're in Wexford."

So this time they were only about ten kilometers from their start point, which was a much more manageable distance to traverse. They could almost walk it except for the fact that they were too cold for that and it would be getting dark out in an hour or so.

Murdoch got straight down to business this time. "Do you have a phone I could use?"

"Sure thing, detective. Only problem is it's not working at the moment. Storm knocked out the power I'm afraid."

"Is that so," said Murdoch, trying his best to not attack the man right then and there. "Could you take me to your generator then? I should be able to fix it."

"It'd be my pleasure. Marcus usually likes to fix these sorts of things but, well, he's not here right now."

As they headed towards the generator, (Murdoch making sure to take Julia along as he feared to leave her alone for even one second), he asked an important question. "So, Fred, where exactly is everyone?"

"They're out working." When he didn't elaborate, Murdoch gave him an inquiring glance. "There's a mine not too far away from here. They don't tend to get back until dinner time."

"And what do you do, sir?"

"You sure are an inquisitive fellow, aren't you? I guess I shouldn't expect anything less from a detective, eh?" Murdoch kept staring at him. "Oh right. I'm a ranger."

_Of course you are._

"Tell me, Fred, do you by any chance have a daughter?"

"Why, yes I do detective. How did you know?"

_What were the chances?_

"Lucky guess," he muttered.

Fred stared at him strangely for a few seconds and then said, "Well, here we are. The tools are right there. Hopefully you can make more sense of it than I can."

The lid had already been removed. After taking it apart and studying it for awhile, he determined what was wrong with it. Something was wedged between the rotor and stator. It was preventing the rotor from spinning around properly and producing the necessary charge. All he had to do was dislodge it and then the generator would work fine. He half thought someone had placed the thing there. Because of this thought, he kept checking over his shoulder to see that Fred wasn't up to anything as he tried to remove it with some pliers. It was stuck quite thoroughly though. He'd need to loosen it up a bit first.

"Do you have any spare oil, Fred?"

"I think so. Let me go check."

"Wait," said Murdoch. "I'll come with you."

"That's fine by me."

Before they went on their way, he grabbed Julia's hand and pulled her along.

"William?" she said but didn't try to fight him.

They came to a shed and then routed around for a bit until they found what they were looking for. Once back by the generator, it was a simple matter to grease it up and then dislodge the piece of material. He _really_ couldn't make it out now because it was covered in oil. For some reason he felt compelled to hold on to it.

Murdoch put the generator back together and then turned it on. He was pleased to hear the familiar hum of the motor.

"Hey, you did it!" exclaimed Fred, patting him on the back. "Good job!"

"Yes, very well done, William," beamed Julia.

"And now your phone, sir?"

"It's straight on and to the left. Here, I'll show you."

"Really, William," Julia said, exasperatedly. "Is it absolutely necessary to drag me with you?"

"Yes," he said solemnly looking straight into her eyes and she didn't argue further.

If the house was set up at all like the previous time then they it would be in the kitchen. And sure enough when he followed Fred inside, he ended up there.

_Spooky._

It was about to get spookier.

"Hey dad, oh, hello," said a young woman, eyes widening at the sight of them. "Are you okay? I could take a look at your injuries for you if you'd like."

"How ni-" began Julia.

"No thank you," blurted out Murdoch. "I'm sure we'll be fine once we get back home."

"All right, whatever you say. Anyways, I'm Linda, and who might you be?"

"This is detective Murdoch and…" said her father.

"Julia Ogden," said Julia.

"Charmed, I'm sure," said Linda, getting up to greet them. "My goodness, you're freezing!" Then she turned on her father and said scoldingly, "Dad, why didn't you get them a change of clothes? Or at least some towels?"

"I don't know," he said rubbing his neck and grinning sheepishly. "It didn't cross my mind at all."

"_Men_," Linda said, sharing a look with Julia, who smirked at that comment. Then she rushed out of the room and came back shortly with two fluffy towels. Murdoch felt like he was being hugged by a polar bear. He instantly felt loads better.

Now he was finally free to make a phone call. He was ecstatic when he heard dial tone.

"Hello, how can I help you today?" asked a pleasant female voice.

"Operator, I'd like to make a long distance call to Toronto, Ontario, to station house number four."

"One moment please."

"Thank you."

He could hear the others in conversation nearby. He figured they retired to the living room so as not to distract him. Julia laughed once, so he knew all was okay though it made him uneasy not to be able to see her.

"Station house number four, what seems to be the problem?"

"Get me Inspector Brackenreid, Higgins."

"Sir? Is that really you? We were all worried sick when the storm hit. Never seen anything like it before."

"Yes, it was quite unexpected. Anyways, can you do what I asked you now?"

"Right away, sir."

There was a few seconds of silence and then, "Bloody hell, Murdoch! Are you and the doctor okay?"

"We're quite all right considering the circumstances."

"Glad to hear it, me old mucker! I knew you'd be okay! You're made of tough stuff, Murdoch!"

"If you say so, sir."

"So where the bloody hell _are_ you?"

"In Wexford, sir. In the biggest house."

"What? All the way out there? Bloody hell! No wonder the search team couldn't find you! I'll send a carriage right away Murdoch!"

"Thank you, sir, it's greatly appreciated."

"You'll tell me the whole story when you get back, right Murdoch?"

"Of course, sir." Though he would leave out certain details when he did so.

"All right then, see you soon."

"Goodbye, sir."

Murdoch headed towards the merry voices. When Julia saw him she made room for him on the couch and then rested her head on his shoulder. They four of them conversed about all manner of things until they heard the carriage arrive. He felt foolish about thinking them suspicious. After all, the last time had been a dream, or more correctly, a nightmare.

Crabtree got down from the carriage to greet them.

"Sir!" he said cheerfully.

"George," they responded almost simultaneously.

Then he got a closer look and his expression changed to one of worry. "Wow, you two have sure been through the mill! What happened? Did you fall out of the sky?" Crabtree said the last in a joking manner.

"Why, yes, George," said Murdoch, "that's exactly what happened."

"What? You mean-"

"If you don't mind, George, we're both very tired and would like to go home now."

"Of course, sir!"

Without further ado, he helped them into the carriage and they were on their way. Fred and Linda waving as they departed.

After his bones had been set in a cast and he was free to leave the hospital, he picked up the remnants of his suit, having previously changed into a fresh one. Something fell out of the pocket. It was the piece that had been stuck in the generator. He took it over to the wash basin and cleaned it off. On top of the oil, it had been covered in dirt. Once both layers had been washed away, he could see that the colour was a startling white. If he wasn't much mistaken, it looked like a bone fragment, possibly even a human one.

_It couldn't be, could it?_


End file.
